(July 25,
2012) A campaign
run by environmental activists has helped lead to a 64 percent reduction in
palm oil use by eight major food companies in Norway, reports Rainforest
Foundation Norway, which led the effort.
The campaign asked major
food companies to disclose their palm oil use and whether palm oil was
certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an
eco-certification initiative. Following the survey, the environmental groups
published a ‘palm oil guide’ where consumers could look up the palm oil content
in the products they buy. The effort went beyond traditional labeling which
allowed palm oil to be listed generically as ‘vegetable oil’ or ‘vegetable
fat’.
Rainforest Foundation Norway and
Green Living launched the palm oil campaign last fall highlight links between
palm oil consumption and deforestation in Southeast Asia. It aimed to reduce
demand for palm oil in the Scandinavian country, where palm oil consumption was
roughly 3 kilogram per year, mostly through processed food products.